Closing the Books on Our 2018 Insurgent Campaign to Take Back Congress!

This campaign is closed and is not collecting donations.

This year, I ran for U.S. Congress because I believe we need principled action and visionary leadership at this crucial moment in our history. We can no longer afford to allow establishment politicians to conduct business-as-usual and serve corporations and wealthy donors at the expense of our families and communities. We need a change, and we need it now -- and I saw this 2018 Congressional race -- challenging a ten-term establishment incumbent -- as the perfect opportunity to work toward the change we seek and get a real people's champion elected.

This summer, my campaign came to a close when I placed third in the top-two primary. I was hoping to win that second spot, to challenge and ultimately defeat our resident corporate Democrat who has been blocking true progress for so long. But the voters spoke, and the message was: "we're not quite ready for real change." For so many, it's still party over people.

But during this campaign, from the time I joined the race in January to the time the last ballot was cast in June, I heard a different message from people like you. One by one, you stood up. You endorsed this campaign. You made small donations. You volunteered. You helped spread the word. You told me: "WE ARE READY!"

Since the June primary, I've been listening, both within and without. I've been making sense of this experience. And while the path forward may not yet be crystal clear, I remain as firm as ever in my resolve to serve this movement.

More than ever before, I stand with our people (all of us) and the planet we share. I stand for social, racial, environmental and economic justice for all. I believe that medicare for all, college affordability, campaign finance reform, real peace, racial justice, and solutions to the great crises of our time (including income inequality and the climate crisis) are not only possible, but necessary. And at this crossroads, I still trust that we have the collective wisdom to do what's right.

With your help, I was able to run a people-powered, grassroots campaign that finished at the top of the field of progressive challengers to the status quo. I did it all on a small budget. We put people over profit, policy over politics -- and while we didn't win, we came out stronger than before. With the 2020 right around the corner, I'm grateful for all the work we did this year to organize a robust movement for real change.

As the smoke clears and the dust settles, I am going about the process of closing the books on this campaign. And I'm asking for your support with one final donation to keep us in the black. I've got a few final payments to make on a handful of small loans that enabled this campaign to have a candidate statement sent home to voters, produce some top-quality videos and run such an awesome campaign.

On September 23, I'll be closing the books on this campaign. Will you take a moment to make a small donation to help me wrap this up gracefully? You can also leave an endorsement if you haven't done so yet; I'm hanging on to all these words of encouragement for 2020. It's closer than we think.

As always, I fell honored to be in community with you. Thanks for all you do for the movement!

“I support Nils Palsson for Congress because he's genuine, passionate, intelligent, connected to his heart and our earth. If people like Nils led humanity our world would be a much better place.”

“I am endorsing Nils because he has the passion and quaities needed to lead the people in his district, along with the congress of the US in a direction away from the negtive trajectory we are on. If humans are to stop from extincting ourselves- the time is NOW to bring visionaires into the government. Nils has these qualities.”

“Nils is a highly committed actionist who will get things done for people. He has integrity and compassion and will not let us down, His values are aligned with US and he is strong enough to withstand the pressures of corporate USA. Let's send him to Congress. Go Nils!”

“I have not had the pleasure of knowing a more inclusive, caring, compassionate individual. I don't know if we can ever truly get money out of politics, but I believe there is a way to get it into the right hands. I'll put my money -- and everything else I have -- behind Nils. Every. Time.”

“I am thrilled to support Nils in his campaign. Our journey in life started through our own self healing and we need people in Congress who have worked on themselves first so that we can work on self healing for the country. I hope the people of the 5th district will vote for change this year. It is the only constant in life and it is what we need to see in order to have any chance at creating larger systematic changes. Go Nils!”

“Nils is a talented and effective community organizer who knows what it takes to create change. He will take his skills to Washington, and teach Congress a lesson.”

A few weeks ago, with help from some friends, I launched a crowdfunding campaign to get on the ballot for US Congress. I'm a working dad with a five-year-old daughter and two jobs (one in Sebastopol working as Communications Director of national nonprofit Transition US, and the other teaching Anatomy at the World School of Massage and Holistic Healing Arts in San Francisco). I'm a man with a dream: true liberation and justice for all, a system that treats all people with dignity, and a healthy world for us to pass down to our children and future generations.

My time for campaigning has been somewhat limited by my working-class reality, but I committed to the race and filed as a candidate with the FEC. I found out that the cost to get on the ballot was just shy of $2,000 - and, alongside working, parenting and maintaining holistic health, I began to labor on this campaign - reviving my presence on social media, beginning to refresh my old campaign website at www.nilsforcongress.com, and putting the word out into the community that I was doing this and needed to make a fundraising splash and raise $2k by February 7th. Today.

I'm posting this to celebrate that WE MADE IT!

Thanks to the generous support of my friends and community members (including several total strangers) - and thanks to the positive encouragement and prayers from countless people who believe in this movement - we will be on the ballot!

I am humbled.

And I've also got my eye on the future, all the work ahead of us.

Even as I pause to celebrate this milestone, I'm aware that, by March 9th - a month from now - I'll need to scale up this fundraising more than tenfold and summon over $10k simply to get my official 250-word candidate statement on the election guide mailed to all voters. (...You mean it's not FREE?) Then there will be yard signs, printing, venue rental, hiring staff... All to ensure that I am positioned to place in the top two in a four-way primary race that includes a tremendously wealthy incumbent establishment Democrat, a Republican, and a Green candidate whose mere presence threatens to split the progressive vote. June 5th may feel like it's a long way away, but I assure you: it is right around the corner. And then, after we achieve #PeoplesVictory in the primary election, there is another entire election cycle, leading up to the general midterm election this November!

Yes, there is an entire mountain climb ahead of us. These are just the foothills. And as we ascend the slope, the mountaintop will not always be readily visible. But I trust that, putting one foot in front of the other, the path will continue to lay itself out ahead of us. Before we know it, if we have faith, remain steady and take right action, we will reach the promised land. I take each step with joy and gratitude.

Thanks to all who have supported this movement to #FlipTheHouse, take back our government, elect a brand New Congress, get money out of politics, achieve Medicare for All, and ensure social, racial, environmental and economic justice for everyone!

There will certainly be more in the days, weeks and months ahead. I can't do this alone. I need help. I'll be calling on volunteers with all sorts of skills to join me in this community effort to elect a Representative that stands with our people and planet.

If you're ready to dig in with me, just let me know! Your thoughts and prayers, cares and concerns, and advice are welcome. Message me any time at Nils Palsson or drop me a line at votenils@gmail.com

As I write this, with just a day to go to reach our initial goal to get on the ballot, we’re almost there! Thanks again for all your support in launching this campaign for us all!

We’re currently at 76% of our goal, with a gap of only a few hundred dollars standing between us and official candidacy. I’m confident we will get there!

(And I sure would love to get there tonight! ; )

If you have it in you to take one more leveraged action to increase your impact before tomorrow’s deadline, please see how this feels:

Think about which of your friends might be willing to support us in realizing our shared vision of liberation and justice for all, and then send them a personal note inviting them to join us by making a small contribution here: https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/380658/nils-palsson

If you feel so inclined, you can also share this campaign on social media and invite your friends to like our page : )

Thank you for being here, and for all you do every day to make this world a better place! Together, we're heeding the cosmic wake-up call that is daily resounding throughout our world. For the good of our planet, all people, and generations to come (not to mention our own precious, beating hearts), this is the year we turn things around.

If we are going to make it to the mountaintop and realize social, racial, environmental and economic justice for ALL, it's going to require a Brand New Congress made up of people who actually represent our communities. And THAT is going to take action from all of us.

I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks for donating to my political fundraiser! Because of you, I've been able to successfully launch my campaign and am now almost 20% of the way to my initial goal! The support I’ve been receiving from the community is amazing, and I’m really glad that people like you are putting your trust in me. We deserve a better future, which is why I’m putting my energy into this campaign — a campaign for us all. And I'm glad to know I'm not alone.

“I support Nils Palsson for Congress because he's genuine, passionate, intelligent, connected to his heart and our earth. If people like Nils led humanity our world would be a much better place.”

“I am endorsing Nils because he has the passion and quaities needed to lead the people in his district, along with the congress of the US in a direction away from the negtive trajectory we are on. If humans are to stop from extincting ourselves- the time is NOW to bring visionaires into the government. Nils has these qualities.”

“Nils is a highly committed actionist who will get things done for people. He has integrity and compassion and will not let us down, His values are aligned with US and he is strong enough to withstand the pressures of corporate USA. Let's send him to Congress. Go Nils!”

“I have not had the pleasure of knowing a more inclusive, caring, compassionate individual. I don't know if we can ever truly get money out of politics, but I believe there is a way to get it into the right hands. I'll put my money -- and everything else I have -- behind Nils. Every. Time.”

“I am thrilled to support Nils in his campaign. Our journey in life started through our own self healing and we need people in Congress who have worked on themselves first so that we can work on self healing for the country. I hope the people of the 5th district will vote for change this year. It is the only constant in life and it is what we need to see in order to have any chance at creating larger systematic changes. Go Nils!”

“You have my support all the way Nils! The world needs you brother, glad to help you achieve this first big goal !!!”

“This guy has our back. I’ve known him for a long time and we need people like him in Congress!”

“I went to Dominican University with Nils when we were getting our teaching credentials. He really genuinely cares about people and is passionate about helping change our political system. He has been talking about this since I met him and it's awesome to see him finally doing it! I support him and I hope you will consider it as well.”

“Nils Palsson has been a progressive and compassionate voice within our community for as long as I can remember. Deeply aware of the critical social justice and ecological issues of our time, he has always been a powerful mover, shaker, and motivator for change, innovation, and preservation of intrinsic human values.”

“Nils Palsson is an engaged critical thinker who is passionate about the human and other-than-human communities he serves. He wants to be the change we long to see.”

“Nils is a visionary with a true force of intent to leave this world better than he found it. With that focus, he's headed to the US Congress to do what every progressive thinker in America wants: support the environment; set policy to ensure justice and dignity for people of all colors, creeds and genders; get Big Money out politics and give control back to ordinary voters (he is not taking corporate donations); bring us Medicare For All and affordable education; set a course for a brilliant future in America. I invite you to meet Nils and be inspired!”